The Fleeting Spring
by celestehalcyon
Summary: Sakura wanders through a forest alone with no recollection of ever coming into the forest. There she meets a peculiar boy and his cat investigating on a mysterious power hidden in the forest, and Sakura soon discovers a secret of her own.


When you open your eyes, the first thing that you see is the sky covered in green leaves. You blink a few times, but the canopy of leaves remains. The faint scent of earth tickles your nose, and you can feel the tufts of grass cushioning you underneath. You take the moment to sit up from where you lay, and, looking around, you realize that you are in a forest. A lump grows in your throat. Strange, you don't remember going into this forest, or any forest for that matter. And what of Syaoran? You think that he would be here with you, he always is. But where is he now?

Where are you?

Not knowing what else to do, you start to wander around the sea of trees. After walking around aimlessly, you find yourself at the bottom of what seems like a mountain. If you were to move uphill, maybe you can see an overview of where you are. Nodding to yourself, you begin your hike up. The sound of birds chirping overhead brings a small smile to your face. You pause to watch a group of raccoon dogs pass by. Under the shade of the trees, you feel a soft breeze brush through you. At the very least, you are not alone wherever you are. There is life in this forest.

Then you start to hear the voices.

"How much further is it, Nyanko-sensei?"

"We're almost there. Hurry up, Natsume!"

"You said the same thing before. We've been at this for more than two hours now."

"Hmph! And who was it that said that _I_ needed exercise?"

"You still need it! You're slowing me down just by sitting on my shoulder."

You don't recognize the voices, but you know that they are coming from behind you, a bit further downhill. Maybe they know where Syaoran and the others are. You rush back down to meet them. "Um, excuse me?"

You see two figures stiffen in the distance, and you see that one of them is actually a cat. The other is a boy looking no older than you, wearing a strange set of clothes, and you wonder all over again just how far you are from home. You hold onto the bark of a nearby tree to collect yourself. "I-I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know someone named Syaoran?"

After a quick start, the boy stammered, "N-No, I'm afraid I don't." Your shoulders slump at that. Now what are you going to do?

"Pardon me for asking," you hear the boy speak up again, "but are you lost, miss?"

You purse your lips. "I think so. I don't even remember how I got here…"

As he walks toward you, you see him frown. "But you have a companion, right? You can't contact him?"

You shake your head, and you feel your tears start to bead at the corner of your eyes. "I don't even know how to reach him… We were never separated like this before…"

Then you see an outstretched hand with a handkerchief through teary eyes. You look to find the boy smiling a gentle smile at you. "Then if you don't mind, let's look for him together."

You look at him for a moment, sniffling, before accepting the offered handkerchief with a smile of your own. "Thank you."

So for the next hour or so, you and the boy scour through the mountain forest in search for Syaoran. While searching, you converse with him. You learn that his name is Natsume Takashi, and his cat's name is Nyanko-sensei. You ask why he calls the cat sensei, and he tells you that he wants to be called that. You merely nod your head at that. Later, you remark that Nyanko-sensei is cute, much to their apparent surprise.

After what felt a whole afternoon pass by, Natsume asks, "Say, Sakura-san? You said before that you don't know how you got into the forest?"

You nod. "I just woke up and found myself here."

You see Natsume pause to stare at you with those amber eyes. "…How about before that?"

You pause, as well. "Before?"

"Where you were last, for example. Or who you were with before you found yourself here," Natsume offered. "If we can retrace your steps, maybe we will have an idea where your friend is."

"That's a great idea!" you exclaim, clapping your hands together. You cradle your chin as you try to think of the things that Natsume suggested. "I went to Syaoran's house to visit him after his trip from the ruins. I wanted to surprise him, and also…" You suddenly blush, remembering what you wanted tell Syaoran.

"Sakura-san…?"

You vigorously shake your head, flailing your hands about. "T-That's all I remember! Oh! But if we go out of this forest and back to the market place, maybe one of the vendors know where Syaoran is and—"

"That's all you remember?"

You stop flailing and look at Natsume. Or rather, at the cat in his arms. "Eh?"

"N-Nyanko-sensei!" Nastume hisses at the cat, but the feline continues to stare back at you.

You find yourself hearing the cat's words again. "Is that the only memory you have?"

Your eyes trail down to the ground. "I-I…" You try to think back to the time before you visited Syaoran, but nothing comes. "I can't…"

"Think harder!" Nyanko-sensei urges. "What happened after?"

"After?" you echo.

"That's right. What happened after you went to that kid's place?"

After that…? You feel your heart racing, your stomach churning in all sorts of ways. You're scared that you remember nothing before your visit to Syaoran's home, but after that… You close your eyes to concentrate. You hear yourself speak. "I remember… a bell."

"A bell?" Natsume muttered.

"Yes. A bell ringing from the palace. A crystal clear sound that rang all over the country. The kind of sound that resonates within your heart." It was a very distinct sound, you remember it clearly. Almost as if…

A resounding bell fills the air.

Your breath hitches. Natsume's voice reaches you like a gentle breeze. "Sakura-san… you…"

"What do you think the bell is for?" Nyanko-sensei asks.

You finally open your eyes and a ghost of a smile appears. "They are calling for me."

Held in the boy's arms, the cat huffs. "So you finally realize what you are?"

You nod as a very familiar voice is heard from a very faraway place, in a faraway time. "I remember…"

The cat huffs again. "Took you long enough."

You ruffle slightly. "I'm sorry to have troubled you, Nyanko-sensei, Natsume-kun."

"So, what are you going to do now, Sakura-san?" Natsume asks, his voice soft.

"I know now where I need to go. So I will take my leave here." When you spot the growing frown on the boy's face, you want to soothe him somehow. Perhaps a hug or even a smile… But a feather like you can't do those things, can you? So you do the next best thing. You float towards him, and brush his cheek softly with the tip of your vane. "Thank you…"

With that, you take off to the sky. You hear him say, "Take care of yourself," and you twirl around the wind in response. Then, you are gone.

Natsume keeps his eyes toward the sky when he asks, "Nyanko-sensei, Sakura-san was…"

"To a normal person, she would've only looked like any other feather. But," it continues, narrowing its eyes, "she had enough power to show a human form to anyone who can see."

"So, Sakura-san was the strong presence that you wanted to investigate earlier?"

"Exactly," the cat nods sharply. "She appeared so suddenly that she disturbed my lunch! I couldn't let that pass!"

He finally looks away to stare at the cat in his arms. "But, sensei, you never did scold her like you said you would. You even kept quiet while we were searching for this Syaoran-san." The unsaid questions hang in the air, but the cat keeps its silence. Natsume decides on a different question. "Nyanko-sensei, what is she?"

"…A memory," Nyanko-sensei replies finally. "A fragment of one, to be precise. On the other hand, one can also say that she is a piece of someone's soul." You feel the tips of its claws gripping onto you, the spirit growling in your arms. "Taking a soul from a person's body can be considered a crime… But to try breaking it into pieces is…"

Natsume can only hold onto Nyanko-sensei closer, patting it on its head for what little comfort it can do. Minutes of silence engulf the once lively forest - a forest that experienced a fleeting moment of spring before falling back into the arms of winter. Snow begins to fall just as the sun sets behind the sleeping mountains. He looks up again, and stares at his frosted breath.

He thinks to himself, 'Wherever you are now, I wish you happiness.'

* * *

**A/N:** This time, I thought I would write this piece from a perspective rarely used: Sakura's feather itself. In the manga, there was no clear implication that the feathers are self-aware, much less be able to move on their own. However, King Chaos, an anime-only character, was a cluster of feathers that was able to form a conscience and even gave life to the country it later ruled over. Given that idea, why not other feathers? This story also contains references to the events in chapter 230 (note the bell and the faraway voice). It would explain where and how the feather knew the place it needed to go.

Also, these feathers have enough power to change the environment around them - whether it is in power enhancement, physically changing the world, or even slowing down one's time (like life/body preservation). In this case, the feather was able to make winter into spring for however long it resided in that place.

And, as a note on the parts of a feather, the vane is what makes up the majority of a feather and what gives it its shape and color. This is also the part of the feather where you can see the familiar red heart-shaped design on Sakura's feather.

Lastly, I would like to thank you dear readers for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it :)


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